Closer Verse
by wolfelements
Summary: A series of stories telling the tale of Xander and Riley's relationship, starting in Oxnard and continuing in Sunnydale. Each story complete on its own.
1. Leaving Alone

This takes place after a fic called Come a Little Closer, which due to this site's rating system can't be posted here. You can find it, however, at this location: wolfelements DOT livejournal DOT com SLASH 3578 DOT html (this site's ability to show web url's suck).

**Fandom:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer

**Author:** wolfelements

**slashthedrabble Prompt:** #251 - Empty

**Pairing:** Xander/Riley

* * *

**Leaving**

_Word Count: 200, Rated PG_

He wasn't expecting to feel this way. Riley could admit to himself that he had been with more men than he could count on one hand. Hell, he'd been with more than he could count on both hands. So the day he left Oxnard, ready to return to his fake life of being a school boy, he hadn't expected to feel so empty.

He wanted to believe it was because he had spent a blissful week in a world where he could be himself, but it was more than that. It was all Xander Harris' fault. Three passion filled nights with more emotion than he had expected plus two dates had added up to Riley falling hard and fast for someone he'd never see again.

And it left him feeling empty and aching.

He stared out the bus window, wishing that he had let Xander see him off. If he had known how hard this would be then he probably wouldn't have left to begin with, though he knew that was ridiculous. He had a career to return to and Xander had…well, he wasn't sure, but he figured it didn't involve demons.

He just hoped he'd see Xander again, someday.

**Alone**

_Word Count: 200, Rated PG-13ish_

This was officially depressing. Xander wanted to throw himself through the nearest wall, just to give himself the physical proof that he was as stupid as he felt. Looking around his empty motel room, Xander wondered why anyone ever enjoyed summer romances. It sucked!

He missed Riley. He missed the way Riley tasted and the way he would groan low into Xander's ear just before he came. He missed how they had talked for five hours straight the second night before falling asleep in each other's arms. He missed how Riley had blushed before holding his hand during their first date.

And now he missed not being alone. He missed not seeing this empty motel room that made him feel kind of used, even though he knew Riley would never intend for him to feel that way. Maybe it was time to head home. He'd never get to see Riley again, but at least he'd be around friends.

Xander curled up on his cold bed and thought of blue eyes and blonde hair. He wished, not for the first time, that he could live in a perfect world without Sunnydale where there was an actual chance of seeing Riley again.


	2. Waiting For Your Call

**Title:** Waiting for Your Call

**Author:** wolfelements

**Fandom:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer

**tamingthemuse Prompt:** #203 – Crumpled Paper

**Pairing: **Xander/Riley

**Rating: **PG-13

**Summary:** _Riley Finn was touching him. Here. In Sunnydale._

**Notes**: Set after the following -_ Come a Little Closer_ and _Leaving / Alone_.

* * *

He felt ridiculous as he stood from the table and, with a vague wave good-bye, left Buffy and Willow to their healthy university lunch. People swarmed past him, moving in and out of the cafeteria with their little backpacks filled with a college education. It made him wish he had the energy to be bitter, but he couldn't bring himself to dislike his friends and their fellow students. Still, it would be nice if they had actually seemed happy to have him there instead of uncomfortable with his presence, like him simply sitting there would cause them to lose cool points.

College, Xander decided, was too much like high school for his tastes.

Xander made it to the doorway of the building, eyes scanning the campus as he tried to remember which direction he had parked his car. For a moment he was caught in watching all of the happy people with their promising futures. He could admit to himself it made him depressed. Even the Slayer, a girl not expected to live long at all, was working toward a hopeful life while he was stuck sitting in his basement with the want ads and dreaming of a guy he'd never see again. Sometimes, Xander's world kind of sucked.

Someone bumped hard into his shoulder, sending him into the wall. "Watch it!"

Xander stumbled and shot the dark-haired boy a glare. He managed to stay on his feet and, ignoring the curious looks around him and the guy's obvious attempt at starting an argument, Xander hopped down the steps onto the sidewalk. He made it about twenty feet before he realized he was heading in the wrong direction. Cursing under his breath, he turned on his heel and nearly collided with a large and muscular chest.

Hands grabbed his shoulders and a flash of memory attacked him, which he swiftly pushed away as he looked up. Apparently pushing that memory away was pointless because the very man that he had been thinking about for weeks now, the very man that he still jerked off to, was standing before him and, oh god, touching him. Riley Finn was touching him. Here. In Sunnydale.

He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes growing wide as they met Riley's confused gaze. He swallowed and found he couldn't do more than stand there. All of the fantasies he had created about this moment were gone, leaving him with nothing to say. Shit, he was going to start looking like a moron if his mouth didn't close.

"Riley?" he whispered, knowing perfectly well that he probably sounded like a teenager girl who was about to swoon. He didn't care, because this was Riley. The guy who had watched him strip and saved him from sexual harassment. The guy that had pinned him to a motel bed and done things that had made Xander's toes curl.

"Graham, I'll catch up with you later," Riley said, not bothering to look at the guy at his side.

And then Riley had grabbed his arm and dragged him around one of the buildings, into a dark alcove that was hidden from both the sun and prying eyes. Xander allowed Riley to push him up against the brick wall, almost afraid that if he said anything else then it would all become just a dream.

Riley's fingers traced down his cheek as blue eyes scanned his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I'm visiting a couple of my friends," he stammered out. "They go to school here."

"Shouldn't you be in Oxnard?" Riley asked, before shaking his head. "Wait, I don't care, I just want to enjoy seeing you again. Wow. If I had known you would be here I would have…I don't know, but I'd have done something to ensure we got to see each other."

"Oh, umm, heh." Xander felt himself grinning and knew he probably looked like a loon, but Riley's hand had rested on his neck and the touch made him feel drunk. "I guess I should have asked what university you were going to, huh?"

"Yeah," Riley breathed out. He swallowed, watching as Riley's eyes focused on his mouth. A soft moan escaped him seconds before Riley pinned him to the wall, tongue thrusting into his mouth aggressively. The kiss was overwhelming, like Riley was trying to steal a part of him. Xander moaned again, wrapping his arms around Riley's strong torso, underneath his backpack, and pulling him close. Then Riley pulled away, his face flushed. "I have to get to class."

"Oh, right. College boy," he said, trying to control the urge to grab the other man again. "You should go do that, then."

"Can I give you my number?" Riley paused, unzipping a side pocket from his bag and pulling out a small notebook and pen. "If you, uh, want it."

Xander nodded almost frantically. "Oh hell yeah, I want your number."

He stood, practically vibrating in place, as Riley scribbled his number down and tore the sheet from the notebook. He accepted the slip of paper, managing not to kiss the damn thing, before sending Riley a bright smile. Riley grinned. He stared at that grin, the flash of perfect white teeth and blonde hair. God, Riley really was an example of the All-American Boy.

He reached out, fingers barely touching Riley's chest through his t-shirt. He felt Riley suck in a sharp breath and he wasn't surprised when Riley had him pressed against the wall once more as they kissed. This was the kind of kiss Xander loved drawing out from Riley. It was the kind of kiss that spoke of possession and that demanded complete surrender from Xander. A shiver ran down his spine and he arched his back, rubbing up against Riley's strong body.

Riley gently pulled away, breathing hard as his eyes darted around them. "I should go."

"Okay."

"Call me?" Riley asked, taking a step back. Xander nodded, watching as Riley turned and walked away.

It had been a week and he still hadn't called Riley. A part of him was spending day after day reminding him of how dumb he was for avoiding the other man. The majority, however, was simply terrified. Riley was living in a world that he didn't fit into, a world where Buffy and Willow existed while he just orbited around. In comparison, Xander knew he was the basic definition of a loser. So instead of calling he left the piece of paper on his bedside table where he could occasionally wake up in the middle of the night to stare at it.

In the end, it was Willow that got him to call Riley, though how that came about wasn't something Xander wanted to dwell on after the fact. They were at Giles' for one of their usual Scooby meetings. He was draped across Giles' sofa and pretending to listen to their conversations on classes and how homework interfered with patrolling. Buffy had been talking about some guy she was thinking of going out with, a Parker something or other, when Xander heard Willow say Riley's name.

He jerked, looking over and tuning in, trying to figure out if they were talking about his Riley.

"I think he likes you," Willow said, shooting Buffy a smile as she pulled yet another leather bound book from the box before her. They were slowly yet surely getting the books saved from the high school put on the shelves that Xander had helped Giles build. "He's always looking at you with this funny expression."

"That's because Riley thinks I'm strange," Buffy said with a slight pout. "Parker on the other hand actually talks to me. Riley looks like he's Mr. Depresso or something."

"Yeah, it's kind of weird," Willow commented. "He was in such a good mood last week in class. Even Professor Walsh was getting annoyed with his grinning, but then the last couple of days he's been the total opposite."

"Exactly," Buffy agreed. "He's like bipolar or something. But Parker…"

Xander turned away from the conversation, biting his lip. If they were talking about his Riley then that meant that Riley was missing him, which both warmed and twisted his insides. He sat up and pulled one of the boxes toward him, trying to push Riley out of his mind. Of course, it didn't work. He hadn't really expected it to. Riley was connected to every thought he had these days. He wasn't sure if that meant he had fallen in love or if it meant he was a crazy stalker who needed to get a life.

He suspected it was both.

And suddenly, because Xander really wasn't the type to think this kind of thing through, he said, "Guys, I have something important to tell you."

Buffy finally stopped talking about Parker and the two turned to look at him curiously. Even Giles popped his head out of the kitchen where he was supposedly making tea.

"I'm kind of gay." Wow. So, that was definitely not what he had meant to say. He fully planned on telling them he was bisexual, yes, but for some reason the word gay had popped out before he could stop it. Maybe the world was trying to tell him something. Or he could just be too nervous to control his own ability to speak.

"You—" Buffy blinked. "Oh."

"That's…really?" Willow asked.

"Oh dear Lord," Giles mumbled, returning to the kitchen and effectively vanishing from the conversation. Xander figured the man would think about it a while and then pull him to the side later to tell him that it was okay to be gay and that Giles supported him. Giles was good for that sort of thing.

"Yeah, I really am," he said with a wince. "I figured out I was maybe bisexual a while ago, but over the summer…I kind of met this guy, see, and I just…it was perfect and I don't want to have anything but that. I really don't. And I might get to see him again if I get off my lazy ass and call him like he asked, but I wanted to tell you guys first because you're my best friends and I really need the support maybe—"

"Whoa, Xander." Buffy held up a hand, her mouth twitching. "It's always a good idea to breathe."

"Sorry."

"Okay, so you're…" Willow waved her hand around before looking to Buffy for help. Xander was thankful that Oz had band practice, because anymore stoic silence and he would probably go insane. Willow drew in a deep breath and finally spoke after what seemed like an hour of nervous fidgeting. "Gay. You're gay."

"I really, really am," he replied.

"Well, that's good, right? I mean, being gay is good. It can be…fashionable?" Buffy offered.

"Heh, yeah. Everyone needs a gay sidekick," he said with what had to have been the most fake laugh he'd ever managed.

"Ouch," Buffy muttered, looking down.

"So, there's a guy?" Willow asked, having clearly moved on from freaked into a true attempt to be supportive. That was why she was his best friend, hands down.

"Oh, umm, yeah, I think there is." He shrugged, trying for nonchalant. Giving their expressions he doubted it worked. "It's kind of funny. I met him on my doomed trip to Oxnard. He said he was going to college, but I didn't realize it was here. I ran into him last week."

"Talk about coincidences," Buffy said with a smile that actually looked real. Xander felt something inside of him relax. "So what's the problem?"

"I don't know if I should really call him or not," he admitted. "I mean, he's college material and me? Not so much. What if…I'm not good enough for him?"

Both girls opened their mouths to protest, but oddly enough it was Giles who spoke from the kitchen doorway. "Don't be ridiculous, Xander. If he gave you his number then he's clearly interested. You'll never know if you don't try and if things turn out badly, well, you will probably never have to see him again."

"Giles is right," Buffy agreed while Willow nodded fervently.

"Well, okay then. I'll give him a call."

It wasn't until later, after helping Giles with his books for a few more hours, that he had the time to call Riley. He sat in his basement of horrors, ignoring the loud roar of some action flick his dad was obviously getting drunk to that filtered from upstairs, and stared at the slip of paper sitting next to his phone. He was being idiotic. Dialing a phone number really wasn't that difficult. All he had to do was pick up the phone.

Okay. He could do this.

Once he had the phone in his hand Xander had to fight the urge to set it back down. He tried to remember the pep talk Willow had given him before he had left Giles' place. Nodding to himself, more determined to avoid the disappointed wrath of his two best friends than anything, he snatched the paper up and began tapping the numbers on the keypad. He listened as it rang and nearly hung up when a voice came over the line. "Finn speaking."

"Uh, Riley? It's Xander," he stammered.

There was a long period of silence, followed by the sound of Riley drawing in a breath. "I didn't think you were going to call."

"Honestly? I almost didn't," he admitted. "I had a bit of a freak out, but after getting hit in the head by my friends over how stupid I was being I figured I might as well call. I can handle the humiliation of you realizing you're too good for me, after all. I've done—"

"Xander," Riley interrupted, "stop insulting yourself."

"Yes! Good plan." The other man chuckled, a deep sound that felt like honey pouring into Xander's ear. Which, okay, that was a little gross. "So…"

"Go out with me this Friday," Riley said, his voice low. Either he was trying to sound seductive or he was attempting to keep others from hearing him. Xander didn't really care either way as he was too busy having a mental orgasm over the idea of Riley asking him out on a date here in Sunnydale where people they knew would see them.

"I think I can manage that," he replied, grinning.

They ended up mimicking their first date with a dinner and a movie. The movie came first, of course, so they'd have a good conversation piece for when they got to the diner. Riley had Xander chose the place to eat since Xander had grown up in Sunnydale, so he ended up picking a small and comfortable diner that had probably opened the same day the Hellmouth formed. They settled into their booth, facing one another because Xander knew that sitting side by side would be far too much temptation. Riley ordered a burger and Xander simply flashed the waitress a big grin that sent her off with a raspy, old woman giggle. She brought back what could have probably counted as half the menu.

"Don't worry, I'll share," he said at Riley's expression. "The best way to eat here is to have a little bit of everything. This is just a small taste of their best. I always get this."

Riley didn't comment, though his mouth twisted into an adorable smile of amusement.

They were silent for a long moment, simply eating and enjoying each other's presence. Then the soft murmur of voices around them started to get to Xander and he had to speak or possibly have a panic attack. "How do you like Sunnydale?"

"It's okay," Riley said with a shrug, wiping his hands on a napkin. "It gets a little weird around here at night, though."

He snorted. "You have no idea."

Riley gave him a speculative look, before blinking rapidly as though to clear his thoughts and reaching for his drink. "What have you been doing since you got back into town?"

"Job hunting, avoiding my parents, and pretending to be involved in my friends' college lives," he replied. "I might have a bartending job lined up soon! I'll be all illegal and working under the table. It's kind of exciting."

Riley's mouth opened and closed for a moment. "What if you get caught?"

"You say that like it's bound to happen," he said with an eye roll. "Allow me to tune you into a little Sunnydale fact: the cops around here? Probably wouldn't notice someone breaking the law even if it happened right in front of them. So don't worry about me."

"I do worry about you," Riley said, blushing lightly. Xander couldn't help reaching out and taking Riley's hand in his own, feeling the heat of his palm and the soft skin along his knuckles. "It tends to happen when I think about you as often as I do."

"Oh, that makes me so with the happy."

Riley laughed. "You really do have the most atrocious grammar, Xander."

"It's part of my So-Cal charm," he said.

They stared at one another, both grinning in that ridiculous way that ensured the people around them knew they were together and quite possibly in like or love. Then Riley glanced over Xander's shoulder toward the door, stiffened, and yanked his hand away like he'd been burned. Xander frowned in confusion and looked back to see two men enter the diner. They didn't look familiar, but Xander didn't make a point to visit the university enough to know the students there. They did, however, have the same stance as Riley. It was the one that said they were in control of the situation, no matter what anyone around them thought.

Normally Xander found that kind of attitude sexy, but when it resulted in Riley getting a pinched look on his face he didn't really appreciate it.

"Forrest, Graham," Riley greeted when the two strangers approached. He waved in Xander's direction. "This is Xander. He's been showing me around Sunnydale."

Xander could feel his heart constricting at that. He hadn't expected Riley to broadcast their relationship to the world, but to be so easily knocked down to acquaintance status in front of the man's friends hurt more than Xander thought it could. He swallowed and looked at Riley, knowing he was giving him a puppy dog look in an attempt to get a better form of recognition.

In the meantime, Forrest was looking at him with something close to annoyance, like he was a fly in the guy's ointment. Xander winced, not bothering to check to see if Graham had the same expression. The odds were good that he did and Xander didn't think he could handle even more rejection.

"There are better places you can go for a tour, Riley," Forrest said, his voice laced with something Xander couldn't identify. He couldn't identify it, but he understood it. Forrest could tell just by looking at him that he was nothing more than a townie and, therefore, below their radar and only meant for entertainment. Forrest practically sneered, before turning back to Riley. "We have a meeting in about an hour. We saw you through the window; otherwise we'd have just paged you."

"Right," Riley nodded, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "I'll be there."

Forrest nodded, glanced between the two of them, before turning on his heel and heading for the door. Graham stood there a moment more, meeting Riley's eyes in some form of communication that reminded Xander of Willow and him. Whatever was said between them was quick and soon Graham was walking away as well.

"Well, I feel wanted now," Xander said, somehow managing to keep his tone emotionless.

"Xander, I can explain," Riley said quickly, reaching out to grab his hand. He pulled it away, off the table so Riley couldn't reach, ignoring Riley's expression of hurt. "They don't know, okay? My friends don't and, frankly, can't know that I'm…"

"Gay? Or fucking a townie?" he asked. He sounded bitter, but he didn't care. Hell, he was bitter. He was bitter and pissed off and if he had been a girl he would have thrown his soda into Riley's face already.

"Both." Riley rested his face in his hands for a moment, taking in a deep breath. "I can't tell them, do you understand?"

"Actually, no," he admitted, shaking his head. He waited until Riley had looked up, meeting his blue gaze before continuing, "I don't understand at all, Riley. If this was your parents then I'd get it. There is no way in hell I could let my father know about you, but my friends? I choose them. They love me for myself and would support whatever relationship I ended up in as long as it wasn't hurting me. That's what friends do. So, no, I don't understand because you picked these friends and who they are says a lot about you."

"Xander…"

"Do you want me?" he demanded.

Riley lowered his hands and nodded. "More than anything."

"I want you, too, but I'm not going to be shoved in a closet for you," Xander said. "I refuse to hide how I feel about you, Riley. I've done that before and I hated every moment of it."

"I can't tell them," Riley insisted, voice tight. "You have no idea how much it hurts to not be able to explain why to you, Xander, but I can't. I'm sorry."

"Me, too," he whispered, reaching for his wallet. He pulled out enough money to cover his portion of dinner and threw the bills onto the table. He stood and paused, looking down at Riley. Unable to stop himself he leaned down and kissed the man lightly, a barely-there brush of lips. "When you're ready to be yourself I'll probably still be here, waiting for you."

"Please," Riley said, grabbing his arm. "Don't. Why can't we try? We don't have to let anyone know—"

"I'm not so worthless that you can date me and then be ashamed of me around everyone else," Xander finally snapped, yanking his arm back and stepping away. "If you change your mind, find Buffy or Willow at the university. They'll tell you how to get a hold of me."

That said, Xander turned on his heel and stormed toward the door. He ignored the sad look the waitress gave him as he passed, knowing she had probably overheard the entire conversation. He made it down the street before the first shudder hit him. He wasn't going to cry, not yet and probably never, but that didn't stop his body from acting like it was.

He told himself that feeling like he had his heart broken was stupid, because they weren't really together. In fact, he could have been just a summer gay fling for Riley, something to get off his chest before he went back to being straight in his perfect college life. The more Xander had to think about it on his long trek home the more Xander was certain that the entire thing had been a set up and Riley was back at his frat house laughing it up with his friends right now.

He felt stupid and ridiculous and utterly devastated in a way he hadn't felt even when Cordelia had dumped him on Valentine's Day. By the time he had made it home he had repeated his last words over and over again in his head, realizing that he had partially lied to Riley, because he felt like he truly was utterly worthless. He had known he wasn't good enough for Riley, but he had let Willow and the others pump him full of false self-esteem.

The piece of paper with Riley's phone number was sitting on his bed when he entered the basement. He stared at it for a moment, before snatching it up and crumbling it in his fist. He took a moment to enjoy the feel of the paper bending and ripping. Then with a rush of anger he threw it across the room, watching as it hit the wall and fell behind the dryer.

Tired, Xander collapsed on his bed and pretended he was stuck in a motel in Oxnard with Riley's arm thrown over his hip.


	3. Beer Bad Boy Good

**Title:** Beer Bad, Boy Good

**Author:** wolfelements

**Fandom:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer

**tamingthemuse Prompt:** #205 - Aboulia

**Pairing:** Xander/Riley

**Rating:** PG-13

**Summary:** _He hadn't felt much of anything since he had ended things with Riley. _

**Notes:** Set after the following - Come a Little Closer, Leaving / Alone, and Waiting for Your Call. Heavy reference to Season Four's _Beer Bad_, if you don't know the episode some of this won't make sense.

* * *

The bar was just as depressing in appearance as it was when he was working, which didn't explain why Xander was there. Oh, wait, no, the girl sitting at the bar peering down at her drink morosely was reason enough for him to be there. Buffy had been there nearly every night he worked, slowly making her way through the different brands of alcohol. Xander wanted to feel pity or sympathy for her, but he couldn't.

He hadn't felt much of anything since he had ended things with Riley.

He had promised to hang out with her, though, so they could drown in their sorrows. He never thought it would be Buffy and him that would be bonding over how horrible men were, but he figured there was a first time for everything. At least it was a sign that Buffy had gotten over her occasionally awkward reactions on the topic of him being gay.

"Hey, Buf," he greeted, shuffling over to the barstool next to her. Buffy waved to him and sighed. Yeah, this was going to be a wonderful night.

He looked up as his boss wandered over and forced himself to give the man a smile. He kind of felt sorry for the guy. Putting up with so many college students had to be a pain.

"I could get into a lot of trouble serving you two," Jack stated. His words held no value, since he was already refilling Buffy's glass of Black Frost beer. "What do you want, Harris?"

"I'll just take what she's having," Xander replied, slouching down onto the bar. He sent Jack a nod and accepted his drink, trying to not gag at the taste as he gulped half of the glass down. Really, beer did not taste good and whoever claimed otherwise needed their taste buds reexamined. He turned toward Buffy. "So, what's on the agenda tonight?"

"I plan to get very, very drunk," Buffy stated with a nod. "And curse boys. They are very, very evil. They're probably demon related, now that I think about it."

"Watch it; this is Sunnydale," he said, "that might actually be true."

"So," Buffy said with fake cheer, slapping the counter top, "Tell me about that asshole that dumped you."

Xander couldn't even bring himself to even sigh at that. He didn't really have the will power to do much of anything, let alone complain. "There's nothing to tell, Buffy. And for your information, I dumped him."

"Then why are you depressed?" Buffy countered, frowning. Her tone turned bitter, "It's not like it was just a one night stand that didn't mean anything—"

"Parker was an idiot," he offered. He really, really didn't want to hear all of this right then. In fact, he kind of wanted to walk away. Instead, he guzzled down the rest of his beer and slid the glass toward Jack, who rolled his eyes and refilled it.

"Why'd you dump him?"

Did he actually have to go into this? Xander blinked over at Buffy and allowed his thoughts to drift toward the topic of Riley. Yeah, it was a bad move on his part. Thinking of Riley made him feel and at that moment, he didn't want to feel a single emotion. Not even happiness. Frowning, Xander took another gulp of his beer. "He wanted to hide. I'm tired of being someone's dirty little secret. I had that with Cordelia. I don't want a repeat."

There was a moment of silence as they drank and then Buffy let out a small whine. "Don't you hate how we are so easily cast aside?"

"Yeah," he said softly, "more than anything."

Shit. With the way this conversation was going, he was going to need a lot more beer.

* * *

He tried to count the number of beers that he had had. Was it six? No…maybe it was ten. Xander blinked and nudged his empty glass before sending an imploring look in what's his face's direction. What was his name? The guy was Xander's boss, wasn't he?

"Jack!" Xander yelled.

The bar owner walked over, raising an eyebrow. "What do you want, Harris?"

"Name. Jack." He paused and stared at his very empty glass. It shouldn't have been empty. Why was it empty? "More?"

"You do have a way to get home, right?" Jack asked, refilling his mug. The man glanced over Xander's shoulder and winced. "Oh, and you might want to watch out for your girl."

Xander tried to turn in his seat to see what Jack had been talking about, but it was funny. His body just wasn't moving. Ah, well, Buffy was the Slayer. She could protect herself. He, on the other hand, couldn't protect himself. Which kind of sucked, mostly when the thing that got injured was his heart and, yeah, that fucking sucked…

What was he thinking about again?

Xander looked down at his empty glass. Wasn't it just full? He could have sworn it had been full a second ago. He swallowed and smacked his lips. Maybe he had drunk it all.

"Jack! More!" he called, looking up to see his boss practically glaring at him. That wasn't very nice. "Mean Jack. Want more."

"I'm cutting you off, Harris," Jack informed him, walking away.

This was turning into a horrible evening. Wasn't Buffy supposed to be entertaining him? Where the hell was she, anyway? Xander frowned and tried to turn around too scope out the rest of the bar, but for some reason his muscles really weren't working. He felt a moment of panic, before it fell away to simple annoyance. Damn it all to hell. First he loses Riley and now his muscles don't work!

Xander mumbled a curse under his breath and pressed his palms against the edge of the bar. Using all of his strength, he pushed against the bar in hopes it would help him move. A yelp escaped him as instead of simply aiding in his attempt to turn around, the push caused him to topple backwards and send the barstool skidding across the sticky floor. He closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable pain of landing head first on the hard floor.

Any minute now…

Okay, when had he learned to fly?

He opened his eyes and looked up at the face of an angel. He blinked and the face turned into Riley. That was when he noticed the arms wrapped securely around his waist, keeping him from falling.

"No!" Xander protested, pushing Riley away. He growled up at the other man and fought to regain his balance. "You don't get to touch."

"Xander, what—" Riley started, finally releasing him.

God, he'd missed Riley's voice. And his hands. In fact, Xander missed him so much he was really debating the intelligence behind breaking up with the man. That is until the short, muscular guy whose name Xander couldn't remember appeared at Riley's side.

"Isn't that…" the guy trailed off, face blank as Riley shot him a look. Xander's vision was too blurry for him to translate the expression, though, but he figured it had to be a scary look to shut up a guy as strong looking as Riley's friend was.

"Go away," Xander ordered, glaring.

"Xander, I think you're drunk," Riley said. Really, Sherlock? Xander didn't have the muscle control to roll his eyes, otherwise he would have. Riley sighed. "Do you have a ride home?"

"Yes," he snapped. "…No."

"Maybe—" Riley began.

"Mean Riley," Xander growled, baring his teeth. Just seeing Riley was making him feel all out of sorts and he hated it. He hated Riley. He hated drinking. He hated everything. Mostly, he hated the fact that his arm felt like lead, which kept him from slapping the other man. And he needed more beer. "Need more beer."

"I think you've had enough," Riley said.

"No," he replied, because that was just stupid. "Beer good."

"Boy!" Buffy bellowed, suddenly appearing out of nowhere to throw her arms around Xander. She buried her face against his armpit and breathed in deeply. She hummed. "Boy smell good."

Xander sniffed the air and looked down at the tiny female. He watched, feeling somewhat detached, as she slipped a hand under his shirt. He looked up at Riley's sound of disbelief.

"Boy warm," Buffy purred.

"No," he said, gently pushing her away. "Girl smell bad. Beer good."

Buffy pouted. Feeling almost guilty, he somehow managed to turn her in the direction of Riley's friend. Immediately, Buffy perked up. "Pretty boy."

"Umm…" the guy said when Buffy started to touch him.

"Jesus, Graham, just…make sure she gets home safe or something," Riley said, rubbing at his eyes.

"Right," Graham said, taking hold of Buffy's hands and therefore preventing her from sticking them down his pants. "It's Buffy, right? Let's get you home."

"Home…" Buffy frowned, before breaking into a bright grin. "Bed!"

"What the hell have you two been drinking?" Riley hissed, watching Buffy drag Graham toward the door. Xander blinked up at him, trying to comprehend the question. "Xander, can you understand me? What have you been drinking?"

"Beer," he stated, and then tried to turn toward the bar. "Beer good. More."

"No, beer bad," Riley insisted, grabbing his shoulders.

"Beer good," he insisted. Idiot. Beer was amazing. Riley was the bad one. "Boy mean. Beer good."

"Xander," Riley said slowly, shaking him slightly to get his attention, "I'm taking you home now."

"No."

"Yes, I am."

"No. Riley bad," he growled low in his throat. Somehow, he managed to take a step forward, shoving himself into Riley's personal space. He growled again, threateningly, before Riley's scent hit his nose. "Riley…smell good."

Riley stiffened as he leaned forward, pressing his nose against Riley's neck and inhaling. Riley cleared his throat. "Xander, let me take you home, please."

* * *

Xander had a feeling that he was missing time, because one moment he was in the bar smelling Riley and the next he was being gently guided down the stairs into his basement lair. How had Riley known where he lived? Was Riley stalking him now? Wasn't that just typical.

"Not nice," he mumbled, nearly slipping out of Riley's hold. If it hadn't been for the man's quick reflexes, Xander would have tumbled down the last three steps.

"What isn't nice?" Riley asked in a hush voice as he tugged Xander toward the bed.

Xander ignored him and watched as Riley fought to get him onto the bed. Xander fell back, feeling his body bounce on the mattress. Hands pulled his shoes and socks off before they used strength beyond Xander's currently ability to comprehend in order to pull him into a comfortable position on the bed. He looked up at Riley's face, watching as the other man sat down at the edge of the bed in order to stare at him.

He stared back. Then he got annoyed with all of the staring and glared.

"I guess I should go," Riley finally said, looking away.

All of the lethargy and inability to move rushed out of Xander at those words. He couldn't really say why, not when he brain was thinking in the most simplistic terms, but all of a sudden he could move. He knew and understood one thing at that very moment: Riley was not leaving.

He pushed himself up and grabbed Riley's arms. With a growl, he yanked the man forward, rolling until he had Riley pinned underneath him. The hard body stretched out below him threatened to break his newfound concentration, but he managed to focus on grabbing hold of Riley's wrists and pressing them down above Riley's head. Breathing in deeply, Xander took in Riley's scent, letting out a sound of desire in response.

"Xander—" Riley started.

He shook his head, silently telling Riley to shut up and was somewhat amazed when Riley stopped talking. He dropped his head, resting his forehead against Riley's shoulder. He took a moment to enjoy the smell of Riley, allowing that scent to pull forward needs and wants. He submerged himself into it, ignoring any form of sanity that tried to pipe up and tell him to let Riley go.

He didn't want to let Riley go. He wanted to touch and smell and taste. He wanted to own Riley.

"Mine," he breathed out before licking a path up the side of Riley's neck. Beneath him, Riley's hard body trembled and his head tilted to give Xander better access. Xander hummed his approval and instinctively rolled his hips.

"Fuck, Xander," Riley gasped.

He groaned and, keeping his nose pressed against the smooth skin of Riley's neck, ground his hips down against Riley's own. He felt Riley strain against the hold he had on the man's wrists and growled low in his throat, satisfied when Riley stopped struggling in response. Xander kissed behind Riley's ear and lapped at the curve of his cheek with a quick swipe of his tongue, hips thrusting down harder at the taste that exploded on his tongue.

His nails dug into the tender flesh that lined Riley's wrists, holding them in such a tight grip that it would have been impossible for Riley to get away without using brute force. Not that Xander would have let him escape. Riley was his. That was the only thing that made sense in his head. Every touch and physical reaction did nothing but support the idea that Riley belonged to him.

Everything swam around and even the earth seemed to move, leaving Riley as the only steady thing for him to hold onto. He knew it was the alcohol in his system, though he had never had this kind of reaction to beer before. Usually it took a nice mixture of drinks to push his brain down to the level of a caveman. He blinked and his eyes locked on Riley's, which were dilated from the pleasure of Xander's thrusting hips.

Xander nudged Riley's chin with his nose, letting out a pleased rumble when Riley easily tilted his head back. He pressed his lips underneath Riley's jaw, dragging them downward and letting his tongue dart out to taste the skin that covered his Adam's apple. A sound escaped him, full of longing and need. He had missed this and had spent every night since their break up trying to pretend he didn't crave Riley's warm body against his own. He rolled his hips again, mouth pressed to Riley's skin in order to feel vibration caused by the other man's moan.

He transferred the hold of Riley's wrists to one hand, letting the other fall down to cup Riley's cheek, thumb firmly placed under his chin to hold his head in place. He growled and used his knees to nudge Riley's legs apart so he could settle between Riley's thighs and have more room to move. Riley sucked in a sharp breath, back arching when Xander thrust down roughly against him.

"Xander!" Riley cried out when he bit down on the soft skin of his neck, just below his Adam's apple. He could feel Riley tense, before the man groaned and relaxed underneath him, physically showing his submission.

He ran his free hand down Riley's side and to his thigh. Taking hold of it in a tight grip, he lifted Riley's leg, encouraging Riley to wrap it around his hip. Riley made a sound in the back of his throat, blinking wide, blue eyes up at him. Xander kissed him, trying for gentle, and his tongue darted out to taste his lower lip.

"Mine," he repeated against Riley's lips.

"Yes," Riley whispered.

The lust died down and while a part of Xander wanted nothing more than to strip Riley bare, the majority of his brain suddenly felt tired and once again unable to move. He didn't want this moment to end; he didn't want to let Riley go. He squeezed Riley's wrists once, ensuring they were still in his grasp, and buried his face in Riley's neck. Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the solid warmth underneath him.

* * *

Mornings were evil. Beer was evil. And Xander officially hated life.

With a sound of pure misery, Xander rolled onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes to hide the blinding light of the lamp. Why had he gone to bed with the lamp on? That was just plain stupid. Though…now that he thought about it, he didn't remember going to bed at all. Most of the night before was a hazy blank, accented by bursts of emotion.

He jumped when gentle hands landed on his arm, pulling it away from his face. Without thinking, he accepted the two aspirin that was placed in his palm and the cup of water. Thankfully, he had swallowed before he thought to see who his gracious benefactor was. His cup of water flew out of his hand and landed on the bed as he sat up, staring at the man sitting on the edge of his bed.

"What-?" he started, before giving in to the utter agony racing through his head. God, beer was a spawn of Satan. Xander swallowed and closed his eyes, blocking out the light. "Riley?"

"I was wondering if you were going to wake up today," Riley said in a soft voice, clearly being mindful of Xander's hangover. "It's nearly two in the afternoon."

Xander just groaned.

Riley chuckled. "I take it you don't remember much of last night?"

"I remember a lot of beer," he admitted, shaking his head, "but not much else." He glanced up at the other man and winced. "Why are you here? I didn't do anything…uh…"

"Embarrassing?" Riley filled in. Riley reached up and rubbed briefly at his neck. "No, you didn't. I ran into you at the bar and helped you home."

He frowned. "Then why are you still here?"

"I…fell asleep," Riley replied, tugging at a thread on the bed's comforter. Xander watched his motions with narrowed eyes, knowing he was missing something. After a moment, Riley sighed. "Okay, so you got a little…hands-on and I ended up falling asleep next to you."

"I thought I didn't do anything embarrassing!" Xander exclaimed, before cringing as his near-yell caused his headache to spike. He let out a growl of frustration. "And, hey! I was drunk, mister, so why did you take advantage?"

"I didn't!" Riley protested. "You were very—" He cursed under his breath and turned on the bed until he was fully facing Xander. "Nothing happened, okay? You were acting really weird and kind of pinned me to the bed at one point—"

"How is that nothing?" he interrupted.

"We barely even kissed, Xander, and you passed out on top of me. Can I recommend never drinking whatever it was that you drank last night, though?" Riley said. "You were acting like a caveman for a period of time."

Xander felt a rush of blood hit his skin and he rubbed his cheek, as though that would remove the blush. "Sorry."

"It's okay, I could have just called you a cab," Riley told him.

He felt something in his chest clench at that and wished he could go back to not feeling anything, to not being able to actively move or interact with the world around him. Not having any will power was a lot better than feeling the ache of wanting more, especially when the object of his desire was sitting just a foot away. He drew in a slow breath, trying to regain control of himself. Instead of letting the moment go and getting Riley out of his home, Xander found himself asking, "Why didn't you?"

There was a moment of silence and then Riley sighed. "I wanted an excuse to be near you."

Xander grit his teeth. "You can't say shit like that to me, Riley."

"Why not? It is how I feel," Riley replied. "You're the one that stopped us from being together. My feelings never changed."

"Sure, because your feelings had to have been so strong if it meant keeping me a little dirty secret," he snapped.

Riley stood and walked away from the bed, hands clenched into fists. He turned and stared at Xander, the muscle in his jaw twitching. For a moment, Xander could see the strength in him, the strength that Riley had shown when they had first met in that dark alleyway in Oxnard. Xander knew that he could easily be afraid of Riley at that moment, but he knew the man would never hurt him. That didn't negate the fact that Riley was clearly mad, though.

"I'm sor—" he started.

"No, just…" Riley sighed and walked back over so he could drop down onto the bed next to Xander. "I'm going to tell you something that you can't tell anyone else, okay?"

"What is it?" he asked warily. For once, his Hellmouth hesitancy was kicking in. Maybe he would be safer if Riley didn't tell him anything, especially considering the look that was on Riley's face.

"The reason I can't tell everyone about you is because I could get into serious trouble if it was known that I was gay," Riley said.

"What, like, with your fraternity or something?"

"No, like with the Army," Riley replied. Before Xander could respond, Riley held up a hand. "I'm in the Army, Xander."

"I thought you were a university student," he said, confused.

"I am. I'm both. The Army is paying for my schooling," Riley explained. "I'm not technically out in the field, but I still have to follow regulations. I'd lose everything if they knew about my relationship with you. I hate keeping you a secret, Xander, but I can't just quit. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, actually, I think I do," he replied. He shook his head and sighed. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you were ashamed of the idea of dating me, a guy and a townie."

"I've never liked a guy enough to try to be in a relationship with him since I joined up. I've gotten used to the silence," Riley admitted. "I didn't know what to say or how to explain it. I guess I should have just been honest."

"It would have saved us both a lot of heartbreak," Xander told him. He glanced up through his bangs, catching Riley's eye. "I don't like hiding, but…seeing how you have a really good reason to hide…I think I could be talked into giving it a try. I've been known to keep a secret or two in my lifetime."

Riley smiled, though there was a sad tinge to it that Xander immediately wanted to remove. "Are you sure? It's asking a lot. I'm not certain I should even be asking you to play a double life like that."

Xander thought back to all of the hidden Scooby meetings and trying to cover the multiple patrols he'd done with Buffy to his parents. Really, pretending to be Riley's townie friend instead of his lover wouldn't be too difficult in comparison. He didn't have to see Riley's friends every day.

He reached out and grabbed the back of Riley's neck. He yanked the other man toward him and brushed their lips together, before kissing him firmly. Riley kissed him back, reaching up to cup his face. Neither parted their lips, keeping the kiss almost chaste and saving both of them from what was no doubt a horrible case of after drinking morning breath on Xander's part.

He pulled back and met Riley's blue gaze. "You have to promise not to be ashamed of being seen with me around town by your friends. If you act nervous or shady they're going to know something's up, got it? And I want you to meet my friends. We won't have to hide in front of them. Those are my terms, soldier."

"Yes, sir," Riley said with a grin.

And then, of course, Xander's hangover decided to make its presence known again. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go vomit."


	4. Say Hello To Friendship

**Title:** Say Hello to Friendship

**Author:** wolfelements

**Fandom:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer

**tamingthemuse Prompt:** #207 – Tuvalu

**Pairing:** Xander/Riley

**Rating:** PG for a kiss or two

**Summary:** Buffy and Willow discover who Xander has been dating.

* * *

"I have the worst taste in paper topics in the world," Buffy announced, leaning her head sideways until it rested on Xander's shoulder. She peered up at him, lower lip extended. "Tell me again why I decided to go to college?"

"Umm, because otherwise you'd be stuck delivering pizza like me?" Xander offered. He sniffed his opposite shoulder, trying to see if he still smelled like grease and pepperoni.

"What happened to your bartending job?" Willow asked, passing out paper plates for the overly large pizza that Xander had brought before sitting down next to Oz. "I thought that was going well."

"Turns out my boss was the creator of the caveman beer," Xander said through a mouth full of cheese. "I thought Buffy told you."

"No, she didn't," Willow said, shooting Buffy a frown. "Though, that does explain her behavior a couple of weeks ago. I just thought she was having a hangover at the time."

"I was having a hangover," Buffy said, picking sausage off her slice with a grimace. "It was just a very primitive hangover. You left to hang out with Oz before the dramatic stuff went down and, well, I was distracted later and forgot to tell you about it."

"Yeah, by that cute math TA," Willow teased.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Buffy said, blushing.

"Come on, Buffy, he's cute. Admit it," Willow insisted.

"He seems to like you," Oz offered, before turning his attention back to his pizza.

"See?" Willow said with a grin. "It's obvious he likes you, what with the way he came to check up on you the other day and offered to help you with your Algebra homework. What guy just offers to help with math like that?"

"He's a math TA!" Buffy exclaimed, snagging the last slice before Xander could get to it. He retaliated by scooping up her discarded sausage. "It's in the job description."

"Yeah, and helping is automatically part of your duties, but going out of your way and offering to help is another story altogether," Xander pointed out. "Who are we talking about anyway?"

"You probably wouldn't know him—" Willow started.

"No, hey, actually, you would," Buffy interrupted. "He was with Riley at the bar, remember? He helped me home. His name's Graham."

"Oh, right, him," Xander said, nodding. Oh, yeah, he knew who Graham was. Graham was the guy that Xander was currently worried about. He had hung out with Riley a total of two times since they agreed to play it straight for most of Sunnydale and both times they had ended up running into a friend of his. Graham, out of all of Riley's friends, appeared to be the only one to suspect something about their friendship. Or so Xander assumed, what with the speculative looks Graham always gave them. "Yeah, he's one of Riley's buddies."

"Speaking of Riley, what is up with the two of you? I didn't realize you guys were friends," Buffy said.

"Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?" Willow asked, looking hurt. "Since when does Xander hang out with Riley?" She turned to Oz. "Did you know about this?"

"No," Oz replied with a headshake. "I heard rumors, but—"

"Rumors?" Xander squeaked. He cleared his throat and tried to appear calm and collected. Which never worked for him, but there was a first time for everything. "What kind of rumors, uh, exactly?"

"Just that Riley's cool rating is going down since he's associating with the townie population," Oz said with a shrug. Oz's mouth twitched and he added, "Your secret is safe thus far."

"Secret? What secret?" Willow demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"So, Buffy, what's your paper topic on?" Xander said in a dramatically loud voice.

"Tuvalu," she said with a look that told him that she knew what he was attempting to do. It also said that his attempts at distraction wouldn't work, but she was willing to play along. "We had to pick some tiny society and write a paper on its relationship with the rest of the world. Or I think that's what it's supposed to be about. I picked Tuvalu because it sounded pretty, to be honest."

"That sounds fascinating," he said with fake cheer. God, he was not going to be winning an Oscar any time soon. "Tell me more?"

"Well, Tuvalu is, like, really small when it comes to people—" Buffy started.

"Whoa, no!" Willow cut in, shooting Xander a look that was more pout than glare. "What secret?"

Xander glanced around at all their faces, saw that Buffy wasn't going to be any help anymore, and slumped in his seat. He really hadn't wanted to go into this right then, not without easing them into the idea of him dating a college guy first. The fact that he was dating a guy that was forced to keep their relationship a secret was a bad thing on all levels. Or so his friends would claim. He sighed. "It has to stay between us, okay?"

"Sure," Willow quickly agreed.

"No, I'm serious, Will," he insisted. "Riley is surrounded by a bunch of…well, let's just say it would be safer for both of us if no one outside this room hears about this. Except Giles, of course."

"I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, Xander," Willow said looking hurt. Which, yeah, made Xander feel like a total ass, but his point had to be made. He glanced at Buffy, who gave an odd shrug-nod combo which he took to mean she agreed to his demand. Oz just blinked, which was all the agreement Xander had expected from him. "So, tell us the big secret."

"Umm, Riley and I are dating," he mumbled.

"It's true, all of the hot ones are gay," Buffy complained, slumping against him on the sofa.

"Uh, hello? Have you looked at Graham?" Xander asked.

Buffy slowly grinned. "You have a point there."

"I can't believe you're dating Riley Finn," Willow said, eyes wide. "He's so…I just never would have expected. Not that you're not, you know, attractive. You could have any guy you wanted, but Riley is kind all-American, and well…"

"The man is dreamy," Oz concluded.

"Are you saying he's too good for me?" Xander asked, trying to feel insulted. Really, he didn't. That was the type of thing Buffy and Willow said to him all the time, so he was used to it by then. "Because, hey, I was the one to take him back after he messed up. I think it's me that's too good for him."

"I think we need to officially meet him," Willow announced.

"We do have class with him," Buffy pointed out, frowning in vague confusion. Xander had a feeling that all of the Tuvalu research was getting to her, because that was a little ditzy even for her.

"Officially," Willow repeated.

He sighed once more and wondered if this really was a good idea. No, scratch that, he knew that this wasn't a good idea. Still, he had told Riley that he wanted the guy to get along with his friends, so maybe this wouldn't be a bad thing. It would've happened eventually. "Okay, we'll all hang out at the Bronze this weekend, but remember he and I are under wraps in public. Also, no Slayer stuff. I'd really like to have a normal relationship that doesn't involve the Hellmouth."

* * *

He was not panicking. He adjusted the collar of his shirt and cleared his throat. And, okay, yeah, he was totally panicking. "What if this goes really badly? What if my friends hate you? What if Willow wants to talk about schoolwork? Don't hate her if she wants to talk about schoolwork."

Riley reached out, grabbed his arm, and easily dragged him into a secluded alleyway. Xander had to briefly wonder if Riley didn't spend every night scoping out the most isolated spots in Sunnydale. Maybe it was the Army training in him. He let out a breath as he was pushed up against the wall and looked up the one inch required to look into Riley's blue eyes. Riley stepped closer to him, hands gently cupping his jaw.

"Is it a closet homosexual power that lets you find hidden corners throughout the city?" he asked.

Riley rolled his eyes. "Can you let me have a serious conversation with you and in the process calm you down with physical affection without you disturbing it with bad humor?"

"…No?" Xander offered. He didn't bother to hide his grin as he raised his face a fraction of an inch and wiggled his eyebrows. "Are we going to make out now?"

"I should not indulge you," Riley murmured before their lips connected.

Xander hummed in response, feeling Riley smile against his lips. He slipped his arms around Riley's waist, pulling him closer to feel the heat radiating off of his body. Their lips easily glided together and Riley's tongue ran briefly along his lower lip. Xander made a sound in the back of his throat and parted his lips, deepening the kiss so he could taste Riley. The brick dug against his shoulder blades as Riley pressed against him, close enough that their hips nearly pressed against each other. Xander pulled back, panting. "You're such a tease."

"Are you saying I don't deliver?" Riley asked innocently, which Xander didn't buy for a second. The man grinned and dropped a kiss to his forehead. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

* * *

They had been there for one hour and twenty-three minutes before Willow sat down her glass and turned to Riley with what Xander had labeled the Resolve Face back in second grade. Riley, who hand been slouched comfortably in the chair next to Xander up until then, suddenly stiffened and sat up. He had to wonder if that was yet another Army skill, because Riley's ability to know when to pay attention was pretty impressive. Either that or the guy had a lot of sisters back home.

"Guys—" Xander began, hoping to stop whatever Willow was going to say before she said it. He had no clue as to what she was about to tell Riley, but he figured it probably wasn't a good thing. He liked Riley and wanted to keep the guy around. The last thing he needed was to deal with Willow and Buffy trying to scare him off.

"Its okay, Xander," Riley cut in with a smile. In a move that was invisible to everyone but the four of them, Riley reached over and trailed the back of his fingers along the outside of Xander's thigh as he reached out to pick up his drink. It was a smooth move and even Buffy looked impressed.

"I'm only going to say this once, Riley Finn, so you better listen closely," Willow said, pointing a finger at Riley as if that alone would make her look intimidating. "If you hurt Xander in any way, I'll hunt you down and beat you with a shovel."

"And I'll help," Buffy added.

Riley stared at the two of them in mute shock, mouth parted. He glanced at Xander for confirmation of their words, who could only give him a sheepish smile. That is, until a thought struck him.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he exclaimed. "You never said that to Cordelia."

"We figured that was the danger in dating Cordelia Chase," Buffy said with a shrug. She turned back to Riley with narrowed eyes, "Now, how about you tell me everything you know about Tuvalu."

"Buf, he's not helping you with your homework," Xander said, rolling his eyes.

"It was worth a shot," Buffy pouted.


	5. Shotgun Wedding

**Title:** Shotgun Wedding

**Author:** wolfelements

**Fandom:** Buffy the Vampire Slayer

**tamingthemuse Prompt:** #208 – All that glistens is not gold

**mission_insane Prompt:** Un-Themed Table #4 – Cocoa

**Pairing:** Xander/Riley

**Rating:** R

**Summary:** In which Riley buys hot cocoa and meets Giles.

**Notes:** Finally, a piece from Riley's POV!

* * *

Riley Finn was efficient, or so he tried to remind himself as he stood in the aisle at the grocery store that held the various types of hot cocoa. Efficiency meant he should be aiming for the best bulk for the best price. He was a college student, after all. He wasn't supposed to have a lot of money. Except, well, he also received a hefty paycheck from the illustrious United States Army that ensured he could purchase worthy cocoa.

This was why he had tried to come up with a way for Xander to grocery shop with him. Xander knew how to stretch a dollar while ensuring a high level of quality chocolate was achieved. Riley wasn't sure how Xander managed to do that, but he wasn't going to complain because hot cocoa at Xander's place was beginning to be one of Riley's favorite past times.

He reached out and picked up a small canister, wishing not for the first time that he had access to an actual kitchen where he could create hot cocoa from scratch like his mom always made. The frat house had a kitchen, of course, but he really didn't want to risk the other guys finding out he made hot cocoa from real milk and chocolate. Otherwise, he'd never get any peace. Army guys apparently loved their chocolate.

Not as much as Xander Harris, though. Riley smiled to himself, thinking of the last time he had watched Xander devour a Hershey's candy bar. The noises the younger man had made weren't that different than the sound he emitted during sex. It had gotten Riley interested, at any rate. Which wasn't that hard to do as of late. He hadn't realized that having access to regular sex would turn him into a total, well, slut wasn't the correct term. Not really. But it was getting to the point where even Xander was commenting on Riley's ability to find an excuse to pin him to the nearest surface or talking Xander into pining him down in return.

Riley suspected it was the result of finally being able to indulge in his gay fantasies without worrying about being caught in a dank alleyway outside of a club. Well…except for that one time outside of the Bronze. Or the time around the corner from the local cinema.

With the direction his thoughts were taking him, he was almost glad when he heard the familiar, complaining voice of one Buffy Summers. "All I'm saying, Giles, is that if you're going to hold our meetings at your place you should at least provide proper sustenance."

The voice that responded to her was British and sounded a lot like Riley's father when he realized his children were effectively ruining his good time. "This wouldn't be a problem, Buffy, if the lot of you didn't attempt to eat the entire contents of my kitchen every Friday night."

"Details," Buffy said evasively as she stepped around the corner and into Riley's aisle.

Behind her an older man followed, pushing a cart that was filled with a strange mix of sensible healthy items and junk food. Riley distantly remembered Xander talking about Giles once or twice. From what Riley had gathered the man was both mentor and friend, which meant he was probably the closest thing Xander had to a father figure, seeing how Xander made a point to ignore the existence of his biological father. Not that Riley blamed him, having had the displeasure of seeing the man from a safe distance. Giles didn't look as stuffy as Xander had led him to believe, though. From the picture Xander had painted he had been expecting tweed and suspenders. This man was wearing comfortable slacks and a knit shirt. Though, the glasses fit the profile, along with the world weary, suffering expression of someone having to deal with individuals less than half their age.

"You can't seriously expect me to pay for all of this," Giles said, though he didn't do more than sigh when she threw another item into the cart.

"It's not like I have a job, Giles," Buffy pointed out. That was when she spotted Riley by the hot cocoa and if he was truthful, he really did feel a moment of panic when her eyes landed on him. There was something about Buffy that was simply intimidating, despite her small size. "Riley! What are you doing here?"

Riley looked down at his small basket and frowned. "Shopping?"

"Well—" Buffy began.

"Buffy, perhaps you should go get the rest of the things you seem to think I need," Giles interjected.

Riley felt his spine straighten at Giles' words and wondered if the man knew who he was. No, taking in the evaluating expression on Giles' face it was evident that he definitely knew who Riley Finn was. Though, Riley couldn't be certain that he knew from something Xander had said or from the girls. He hoped it was Xander, because then Giles might have a positive opinion about him. There was no telling what Willow or Buffy would have told him.

Buffy looked like she was going to protest, before her eyes narrowed and sly grin appeared on her face. "Yeah, okay, I suppose I could go do that. I want full details later, though."

"If you insist," Giles agreed and waited until Buffy had left the aisle before pushing his cart a few feet closer. Probably so he wouldn't have to raise his voice in order to threaten Riley, but Riley felt it best to not ask and have that clarified. "I've known Xander since he was a sophomore and I must admit, he has terrible taste in who he dates."

"He's mentioned a couple," Riley offered, just to show that he was attempting to be a part of this conversation.

"I don't approve of him having to hide his relationship with you," Giles informed him, "but I also understand that I have no actual say in the matter." Giles paused, eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "I'm not his father, but I feel that as the closest adult he has in his life that I have the right to tell you not to hurt him. The girls will have no problem with defending him from anything you do on a day to day basis, but if you hurt him intentionally…"

"I get it," Riley said when Giles stopped to take a breath. He hadn't expected Giles to be the type to talk that much to an almost stranger, but he figured Xander and his friends had to have rubbed off on him over the years. He gave the older man a slight smile. "You guys all care about him and, really, that just proves to me that the way I feel about him is justified. Xander is…probably one of the best things that have happened to me in a good while."

"Good," Giles said stiffly, obviously suddenly realizing the uncomfortable content of the conversation. "Just so long as you realize that."

"I do," he replied, allowing his smile to widen as he thought of Xander. "I realize more than you know. I nearly lost him once. I'm not going to lose him again, not unless I can help it."

Giles eyeballed him for a moment, before looking satisfied. The man began pushing his cart once more, pausing when he got close enough to see what Riley was looking at. "Are you searching for Xander's brand?"

"Uh, yeah, actually."

"Here you are," Giles said, reaching out and snatching a canister off the shelf. "It's the only semi-expensive thing I know Xander to willingly purchase. He views chocolate much in the way the rest of us sees gold."

"Meaning, just because it glistens and looks nice, it isn't always the real deal?" Riley surmised, setting the brightly colored can that he had been holding back in its rightful place.

"Exactly," Giles replied, giving him a pleased expression. Riley had the strange feeling that he had just passed some kind of test, though all of the college education he'd had couldn't even begin to aid him in figuring out what, exactly, the test had been. Regardless, he was glad that he had passed it. "I should find Buffy before she decides to purchase the entire store."

* * *

"You are the best boyfriend ever," Xander gushed when Riley presented the can of hot cocoa to him like a caveman offering up his latest hunt. Riley wanted to feel ridiculous for getting such pleasure in the idea of providing for his partner, even if the provisions were a form of sweets, but Xander made it easy to enjoy. "Get in here."

Riley followed Xander down the stairs to his dark and rather dank basement, wishing not for the last time that he could miraculously share his Army benefits with the man and move him into a decent apartment. He had a feeling, though, that Xander wouldn't accept such a gift. The man was too stubborn and had enough pride to equate Riley's grandfather—which was saying a lot.

"I ran into Buffy and Giles at the grocery store," he commented, allowing Xander to shove him down onto the sofa. He watched Xander freeze halfway to the small kitchenette. A small second later Xander continued on his way, gathering the needed supplies to make hot cocoa.

"What did Buffy do this time?" Xander asked, sounding apprehensive.

"Oh, nothing," he said with a shrug. "She just left me alone with the closest thing to a father you have. I thought you said Giles didn't get emotional."

"Giles cried?" Xander gasped, turning to gape at him.

Riley couldn't help it: he rolled his eyes. Sometimes, Xander was a bit too dramatic. It was cute, usually. Well, sometimes. "I didn't say that, but he almost growled at me."

Xander snickered.

"I'm serious!" he insisted, standing and walking over. He stepped up behind Xander and wrapped his arms around the man's waist, taking a small second to enjoy the heat that radiated from Xander's skin and through his thin t-shirt. "It was definitely scary."

"Right, Rupert Giles of the Land of Tweed and Tea scared you, the big bad Army guy?" Xander snorted. "Riley, you're going to make me ashamed to call you mine if you tell me that you're actually scared of a retired librarian."

"Are you sure he was a librarian?" Riley asked, frowning. "He was too intimidating to be a librarian."

"He's the Madame Pince of the non-Hogwarts world," Xander told him, passing a mug of cocoa over his shoulder.

He accepted the cup and took a sip, fighting down a curse when it burnt the inside of his mouth. He ignored Xander's chuckle and dropped a kiss to Xander's head in thanks. It might have burned his tongue, but it was still the best tasting liquid chocolate Riley had ever enjoyed. Xander certainly knew how to pick the right brands. And, well, apparently so did Giles.

"Well?" Xander finally asked, turning to lean against the counter.

Riley stepped forward, ensuring that he had as much full body contact as possible. "Well, what?"

"Don't pull that with me," Xander said with a scowl, though the effect was lost when the scowl was interrupted by a deep moan with Xander finally tasted his drink. Riley felt his mouth go dry as Xander's moan tapered off into a whimper. He stared at Xander's eyelashes, which fluttered from the apparently orgasmic joy the man was getting from one small sip of hot cocoa. "Oh, god, that's good."

"Oh, yeah," Riley breathed. He continued, ignoring Xander's smirk, "And to think that I almost bought another brand because the package was pretty."

"All that glistens—"

"Isn't gold," he finished, smiling. "That's what Giles said, though not with those exact words."

"I taught that man all he needs to know about the joys of chocolate." Xander savored yet another gulp of his drink, emitting noises that Riley thought were much better suited for the bedroom. He knew Xander could feel him getting hard, since he still had Xander pressed to the counter with his hips. Riley had a feeling that this was another one of his games in testing Riley's control. Riley blinked and blushed, realizing Xander had been staring at him expectantly. "Are you back?"

"Uh, yeah, what did you say?"

"I asked what was it that Giles did that was so scary."

"Oh," Riley said. "It wasn't so much what he said as how he said it. It was like his way of playing the father standing on the front porch with a shotgun. If he was from a small town in the South and you were a girl, we'd be getting married right about now."

Xander laughed and took Riley's mug, placing both of their drinks on the counter. "That would imply you've knocked me up."

"Are you saying my attempts have failed?" he asked with a grin. This was why he loved spending time with Xander. He could be utterly ridiculous without worrying about what other people thought. He could tease and play and not have to look over his shoulder while he was doing it.

Xander leaned in, lips barely an inch away from his, and then he pulled back. "Wait, does that mean Giles approves of you?"

"Umm, I think so," Riley offered in an unsure tone. He thought he had gotten onto Giles' good side, but it was difficult to tell. Giles clearly hadn't hated him, but Riley could see that he had some work to do before the man thought of them as Xander-and-Riley. "I think he moved from suspicious to warily optimistic."

"For the G-man, that's about as good as it gets," Xander said with a nod. Xander placed his hands on Riley's hips and nudged Riley's chin with his nose, grinning. "I think you deserve a reward. You've officially met the in-laws."

Riley shifted closer, making sure there was no space left between them, and tilted his head to press a gentle kiss against Xander's lips. He slipped his hands underneath Xander's t-shirt, sliding his fingers across soft, heated skin. Xander's mouth opened up under his own, allowing in his tongue while simultaneously emitting a low groan.

He pressed his thigh between Xander's legs and rolled his hips, pushing up against the hardness he found there. Xander pulled away from the kiss and gasped, hands jerking Riley's hips toward him again. He shifted backward, tugging Xander with him as he slowly worked his way toward the bed. Riley kissed along Xander's jaw in order to distract the man from the fact that they were moving, trying to keep Xander arching against him.

Finally, he was able to push Xander down onto the bed's surface and cover him with his own body. He lifted up long enough to pull his shirt off and help Xander's with his own. When their chests touched, skin against skin, he let out a moan and pressed another kiss to Xander's lips.

"God, yes," Xander groaned out when Riley thrust his hips downward, causing friction with the rough denim of their jeans. "Please, fuck, Riley, please."

Riley sat up and scrambled to undo Xander's pants, cursing under his breath as he fought with the zipper. He finally got Xander's jeans unzipped and tugged them down far enough to release Xander from his jeans, giving him a couple of strokes in the process just so he could hear Xander ask for more. He slid down the bed, kissing a path down Xander's chest and stomach. He paused at Xander's belly-button, dipping his tongue into it as he tuned in to hear Xander's nonstop babble.

"Yeah, yeah, Riley," Xander panted out, "please don't stop. I thought, shit, I thought I was supposed to give you the reward, not the other way around? Not that I'm complaining and stop teasing me—"

Riley wrapped his lips around Xander's erection mid-chuckle, causing a vibration to be felt. Xander let out a keening noise, hips jerking upward.

It amazed Riley how much he loved this. He had never been against giving head before Xander and had even enjoyed it on occasion, but with Xander it was like he craved it. The taste, the sounds Xander made, the feeling of Xander's thighs trembling against the palm of his hands, and the knowledge that he was the one causing Xander to forget about everything but the pleasure. It was a heady experience.

"Xander," Riley said, pulling back for a second and waiting until Xander looked down at him with dilated eyes, "this is my reward."

"I'm not complaining," Xander insisted.

Riley grinned and gave Xander another stroke before lowering his head. He had just gotten a good rhythm going when a distinct beeping sound hit his ears. He jerked back from Xander and tugged his pager off his belt. A glance at the small screen had him groaning, "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Xander asked, somewhat breathlessly.

"I have to go," he said with a wince. Xander stared at him with wide eyes clearly showing their disbelief. "I'm sorry. Duty calls."

He hated this. He hated watching the small frown appear on Xander's face, followed by the small nod of acceptance. It wasn't just a blow-job this was interrupting; it was their entire evening together. Riley sighed and reached for his shirt, pulling it on with stiff motions. He hated keeping this secret.

It made him feel like he didn't deserve Xander. The other man was honest with him at every opportunity, but all Riley could do was lie about where he went and what he did every time he got a call or page. Sure, Xander understood that he was in the Army, but he had no clue about the nights Riley spent patrolling. He had no idea what kind of danger there was in Sunnydale.

"I really am sorry," Riley offered, looking up to find that Xander had managed to get dressed in record time. He leaned forward and planted a soft kiss to Xander's lips, inwardly relaxing when the gesture was accepted with ease. He kept waiting for Xander to get tired of the secrecy, but so far he'd remained surprised.

"That was horrible timing," Xander said with a wry grin.

"Tell me about it," Riley laughed softly, kissing him again before standing. "I'll make it up to you."

"I accept many forms of chocolate and expensive diamonds," Xander informed him.


	6. Peaceful Interrogations

Title: Peaceful Interrogations

Author: wolfelements"

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

mission_insane Prompt: Un-Themed Table #4 - Legend

Pairing: Xander/Riley

Rating: PG-13

Summary: "You were such a geek in high school, weren't you?" he asked.

Notes: Takes place in the Closer 'Verse. Naturally, I couldn't ignore the Anya thing.

* * *

Xander rolled over and threw his arm over Riley's waist, twisting his head so he could see what textbook the other man had opened on the bed next to them. Somehow, and Xander wasn't entirely sure what methods Riley had used, but somehow Riley had talked his friends into believing that he had joined some kind of study group for his upper level Cultural Anthropology class. Riley had admitted that the only reason that they had believed him was because Anthropology remained one of the few social sciences that Riley actually had difficulty with.

Xander thought Riley was being a little dramatic over only having a B minus.

The majority of Riley's study time was spent with Xander in what they had both termed 'semi-dates'. Like dates, they enjoyed one another's company and often shared vital information about their lives, but unlike a date they didn't actually leave Xander's basement. Riley, being the good boy that he was, insisted on spending a small portion of that time actually studying. Xander honestly believed he was crazy, but didn't do more than tease him.

"What are you reading?" Xander asked, resting his chin on Riley's shoulder.

"I think it's on linguistics," Riley offered, "but I'm not entirely sure. The words are blurring together and you're not helping any."

"What did I do?" Xander exclaimed, frowning.

Riley looked down at his stomach pointedly. Following his gaze, Xander immediately spotted his hand which had, fully of its own accord, slipped under Riley's shirt and was busy stroking the skin just above his belly-button.

Xander grinned. "But you're just so touchable."

"Xander," Riley said, giving him a look. It would probably have been one of annoyance, but Riley's mouth was clearly fighting the urge to smile so Xander didn't believe him for one moment.

"You were such a geek in high school, weren't you?" he asked. He had his doubts, as Riley was kind of the definition of All American Boy, but the dedication he had to school work was only the type earned via a hard lesson or geekdom. Xander was betting on the latter.

"Where would you get an idea like that?"

Xander innocently pointed toward the massive textbook that, if he had any say on the matter, should be set aside so they could involve themselves in more interesting adventures. Not sex, though. He and Riley had already had sex about an hour ago. No, Xander wanted nothing more than to sit Riley down and explain to him just why Street Fighter will always be the best form of couple bonding in the world. So far, Riley had been evading this lesson.

"Actually, I wasn't a geek," Riley said with a chuckle. "Just the opposite."

"Stupid jock, then?" he asked, grinning when Riley shot him a dirty look.

"More like bad boy," Riley replied smugly. Xander had to roll away in an attempt to hide his laughter. He almost fell off the bed in the process, only to have Riley grab him just in time and pull him into his arms. Riley held him and sighed. "I should be offended by that, shouldn't I?"

"Not at all," he said, twisting around once more to get comfortable. "Consider it a testament to how humble you appear."

Riley scowled. "I'll have you know my friends and I were legends at my school."

"Legends. Right," Xander said, nodding, before he burst into a long session of giggling. He covered his mouth, trying to smother it. Riley pushed him away and for a second Xander thought he had actually managed to offend Riley, but then he felt fingers digging at his sides and his giggles turned into full laughter. He squirmed, trying to get out from under Riley's heavy weight. "I give, I give! Oh god, stop."

"Not until you admit it!" Riley ordered, pinning Xander to the bed. "I am a legend!"

"Never!" Xander called out, twisting in an attempt to get away. He grinned up at Riley, darting forward to kiss him.

Riley pulled back. "Oh, no. I'm not letting you go until you admit that I am a legend among men."

"Yeah, okay, sure. You're a legend...among dairy farmers!" Xander teased.

"My family grows corn, you ass," Riley said, laughing.

"I lov-" Xander cut himself off, eyes growing wide. Riley blinked down at him, a hint of confusion entering his eyes. Xander cleared his throat. "You're a total legend. I give. Okay? Okay. Yeah, so, who's up for some popcorn?"

"Xander, did you just-" A loud knock interrupted and Riley quickly jumped off the bed, grabbing his textbook and seating himself at the small kitchen table in a fast move that left Xander staring. Riley turned a couple of pages, a blush appearing at the back of his neck. The knock came again. "Aren't you going to get that?"

"How did you get over there so fast?" Xander demanded as he finally got to his feet. He made his way to the stairs just in time to see his door fly open. He stared up at the figure in the doorway with confusion. "Huh. Anya?"

"Xander, you're supposed to answer the door when someone knocks!" she exclaimed as she stormed down the stairs. She spotted Riley at the table. "Hello adorable man that I do not know." That said, she proceeded to ignore Riley's presence. "Xander, I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Xander asked. "I haven't even seen you since graduation."

"I can't get you out my mind," Anya stated, taking in a deep breath. "So, I decided to come back and do the only thing I can to get rid of you once and for all." She drew in another deep breath and began unbuttoning her jacket. "Xander, we need to have sex."

Xander's jaw dropped at the same time as Anya's jacket, showing that she wasn't wearing anything more than underwear. He glanced down her body, appreciating the sight for about a millisecond, before he turned to see Riley glaring at him. He swallowed and covered his eyes with his hand. "Anya, you need to put some clothes on and leave."

"But, Xander, this is the only way," Anya insisted, resting her hands on her hips. Xander rolled his eyes and pointedly looked at Riley. Anya didn't seem to notice. "I thought just having sex would work, but all the men I slept with in L.A. didn't help at all. I even slept with a woman and that didn't work. I have to have sex with you. Once I do, you'll be out of my system and I'll never have to see you again."

"Well, with sweet talk like that..." Xander said. He sighed and shook his head. "Look, Anya, I can't sleep with you. I'm with someone."

"Who?" Anya asked, looking around. "All I see is the cute frat boy and while he is pretty, he's certainly not a girl."

"Yeah, that's kind of a good thing for me right now," Xander told her.

She frowned and, seemingly oblivious of her nudity, scratched thoughtfully underneath one breast. "But he's a boy. Man. A man-boy. I'm not sure if you know this or not, but he has a penis, Xander. Or it's a sock."

Across the room Riley made a choking noise and glared even harder at Xander.

"Okay, Anya! It's time for you to go," Xander said, reaching down and picking up Anya's jacket and shoving it into her arms.

"But!" Anya began.

"Nope, you get to leave," Xander insisted, ushering her toward the stairs.

"But!"

"He's my boyfriend and I don't cheat, especially when he's sitting at my crappy kitchen table."

Anya stomped her foot and flung on her jacket with jerky motions. "Fine! Fine! Stay in your shitty basement with its mold and damp air. Sleep with your sexy boyfriend and forget about ever getting personal with my vagina, Xander Harris!"

Xander stared at her a moment, mouth dropping open. "I suppose I should be upset about that. Seriously, Anya, get out of here."

"You could have been the love of my life!" Anya yelled back at him as she stormed up the stairs, before the door echoed shut behind her. Xander looked up at the closed door for a moment. Blinking, he slowly turned to find Riley watching him with an amused look on his face.

"Let me guess, that was Anya the Prom Date, right?" Riley asked, breaking into a bright grin.

"Shut up," Xander ordered.

"Do you know what scares me? What would your life have turned into if I wasn't here and you had given into that crazy woman?" Riley asked.

Xander scowled. "That's it! You are never having sex with me again."

"Oh, come on, Xander," Riley protested.

"Nope," Xander said, shaking his head. "Sorry, you officially killed my libido."


End file.
